Bloomsday 2010: 'Ulysses' Celebrated Around The World (PHOTOS, POLL)

Bloomsday 2010 is being celebrated around the world today as fans come together to appreciate James Joyce's classic novel "Ulysses." The book, widely considered to be one of the greatest modern novels ever written, takes place over the span of just one day -- June 16, 1904 -- and follows the musings and adventures of two men living in Dublin, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus.

Fans are particularly joyous in celebrating Joyce's masterpiece not only because of the book's importance but because the book at its essence celebrates life itself as it is, especially in Bloom's wife Molly's soliloquy. Below, we've gathered a few of our favorite quotations from the book -- feel free to let us know yours in the comments section below! Check out how people are celebrating Bloomsday in Dublin and around the world in the slideshow that follows, and if you have any pictures from your own celebration, let us know by clicking the "Add a Slide" button!

Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressinggown, ungirdled, was sustained gently behind him on the mild morning air. He held the bowl aloft and intoned: - Introibo ad altare Dei.

Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liver slices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencod's roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine.

A nation is the same people living in the same place.

... and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.

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Each year, June 16th means the celebration of Bloomsday in Dublin. James Joyce's masterpiece "Ulysses" follows Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus as they wander the city on June 16th, 1904. Inhabitants and enthusiasts celebrate the occasion by dressing up in old fashioned clothing and touring the locations of the book, reciting literature and attending events. Here, women walk along the water at Sandycove, where Stephen has some of his most philosophical musings.

The first chapter of "Ulysses" takes places at Martello Tower. Joyce spent six nights there in 1904, leaving after Oliver St. John Gogarty fired a gun at him. The opening scenes of "Ulysses" are set the morning after this incident. The tower now houses a James Joyce Museum, where visitors can view some of Joyce's possessions, as well as objects associated with the book.

The James Joyce Museum at Sandycove, Dublin in the Martello Tower will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with readings and commemorations of Joyce. In addition to scheduled events, visitors are invited to make their own contributions to the celebrations.

Bailey's Pub features a photo of the actual house at 7 Eccles St., where Leopold and Molly Bloom reside in the novel. In 1967, John Ryan, one of the original participants in the Bloomsday celebration, installed the door to No. 7 Eccles Street after having rescued it from demolition. The door is now on display at the James Joyce Center in Dublin.

Fatigued by the Bloomsday festivities, participants in the celebration can refuel at Davy Byrne's Pub on Duke Street, where it's a tradition at lunchtime to get a glass of burgundy and a Gorgonzola sandwich as Bloom did in the book.

While visiting the James Joyce Centre, enthusiasts can get an idea of the circumstances under which Joyce composed "Ulysses". Based on contemporary accounts, the Joyce Study displays the studies where Joyce worked on "Ulysses" in Trieste, Zurich and Paris from 1914 to 1922. Here, fans can see the writer's desk.

Fans who can't make it to Dublin shouldn't despair, as celebrations of Bloomsday will be held worldwide in over locations including Trieste, Genoa, Iceland, and even Brazil. Festivities include readings, reenactments, and Irish music. To find a way to celebrate in your city, click here.

The notoriously difficult novel has even been adapted for Twitter. For Bloomsday in 2009, fans Ian Bogost and Ian McCarthy created accounts for 54 of the novel's key characters and built a program that tweets their lines at the correct moments in the novel's 10th chapter.
Follow last year's performance on twitter.
This year, another ambitious group has aimed to tweet the entirety of "Ulysses," 140 characters at a time.

This year marks the 30th annual Bloomsday on Broadway in New York City. Over 100 actors will participate in all 18 episodes, with a Q & A following.
Other New York events can be found at the Bloomsday NYC site.

Radio Bloomsday will be available online with excerpts and performances from "Ulysses". Participants will include Alec Baldwin, Laura Barnett, Aaron Beall, Shawnee Benton-Gibson, Marie-Louise Bowe and Cian Buckley. The radio broadcast will continue a 33 year tradition of broadcasting marathon performances of "Ulysses" every Bloomsday.

A small group first celebrated Bloomsday on June 16th 1954. Brian O'Nolan lead the group, which included poet Patrick Kavanagh, critic Anthony Cronin, a dentist named Tom Joyce (Joyce's cousin), and John Ryan, a painter and businessman. Originally planning to take horse-drawn buggies around Dublin to visit the locations mentioned in the book, the tour ended at Bailey's pub largely due to the earlier-then-intended intoxication of the members involved.

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday in 2004, the book ""yes I said yes I will Yes"" offers a reflection on "Ulysses" and a gathering of reactions.
Last year marked the release of a comic book version of the text, titled "Ulysses Seen".

If you're in New York, Culture Ireland and the Irish Arts Center are hosting a free Irish breakfast in Bryant Park. There will be dancing, reading and free food. All you have to do is RSVP.

Starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m., the Machine Project in Los Angeles' Echo Park will enable participants to read "Ulysses" in its entirety. In order to do this, readers must sweep through the text at over 100 pages an hour (a very lofty goal), but there will be chairs, spare copies of the novel and a coffee shop next door.